Powell with Foreign Minister Maher of Egypt

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman For
Immediate Release

November 29, 2001

Remarks By Secretary
Of State Colin L. Powell and His Excellency Ahmed Maher
Al-Sayeed, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Arab Republic
of Egypt, After Their Meeting

November 29, 2001 C Street
Entrance Washington, D.C.

9:55 a.m. EST

SECRETARY
POWELL: It's always a pleasure to welcome my good friend
and colleague, the Foreign Minister of Egypt, Foreign
Minister Maher, and as we always do, we had an excellent
exchange of views. We talked about the situation in the
Middle East, and we talked about the speech that I gave a
few days ago, and President Bush's statements at the United
Nations General Assembly with respect to the Middle East.
And we are both encouraged that there may be some new
momentum now with General Zinni on the ground. We talked
about General Zinni's visits with the Israeli leaders and
with the Palestinian leaders.

We also exchanged views
about Afghanistan, and I took the opportunity to again thank
the Foreign Minister and through him his government and
people, and especially President Mubarak, for the strong
support they have given us in this campaign against
terrorism.

We also talked about bilateral issues that
exist between our two countries. Our relationship remains
strong, and the Foreign Minister and I do everything we can
in our regular meetings and in our very, very regular phone
calls to build on that relationship. And I think it is
going very, very well and to the satisfaction of both
sides.

So Mr. Foreign Minister, once again, it's a
pleasure to have you here.

FOREIGN MINISTER MAHER: Thank
you, Mr. Secretary. I wish to concur with everything the
Secretary said. It's always an honor and a pleasure to be
in Washington and to visit with the Secretary.

As usual,
we had a very important conversation that regarded all the
matters of common concern and common interest between our
two countries, particularly the Middle East peace process.
And we expressed our deep satisfaction with the renewed
efforts by the United States to renew the search for peace,
based on the excellent speech made by the Secretary. And I
told him how much we are willing to cooperate with him in
making this a success, and finally reaching a final
agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis that
ensures that both peoples live in peace and security, each
in his sovereign state.

We also discussed the fight
against terrorism and the cooperation between our two
countries in this regard, and our hope that Afghanistan will
finally find security and stability. We also touched on the
bilateral relations, which are excellent, and we discussed
ways and means to making them even more excellent. There is
a strong cooperation in political, economic and military
fields, and we expressed our desire to see these bonds
strengthened.

I think that I was grateful for the time of
the Secretary. I was grateful for the sentiments he
expressed towards the role President Mubarak and Egypt are
playing in ensuring the stability and security of our
region.

It's always a pleasure to see the Secretary. It's
always a pleasure to talk to him. It's very instructive,
it's very rewarding, and I will divulge a secret -- it's not
such a secret -- by saying that I extended to the Secretary
an invitation to come soon to visit us in Cairo.

SECRETARY
POWELL: Thank you.

QUESTION: Secretary Powell, while the
reaction for your speech on the Middle East was very
positive and generally positive, but many commentators asked
for a time schedule and a mechanism for implementation.
What's your take on that?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I'm
pleased at the reaction we received from around the world on
the speech. I think it's right to characterize it as
positive. I know that some commentators wanted to see a
timetable, but I think that will come in due course. Now
that General Zinni is on the ground talking to both sides,
as they proceed with their work, obviously they will come up
with a timetable as to how they will go forward.

And so
the fact that it wasn't in the speech doesn't mean it isn't
important. That's the kind of work that has to be done on
the ground between the two sides, deciding what that
timetable should be, and not the United States imposing a
timetable.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, because of September
11th, Egypt has a very severe economic and financial
problem. Are you ready yet to help Egypt in that
matter?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes. (Laughter.)

QUESTION:
Would you just explain to us?

SECRETARY POWELL: We talked
about this. It's a bilateral matter between the two sides.
We are aware that Egypt is having some financial and
economic difficulty now, with the drop in tourism, and we
are looking at ways that we can accelerate some of our
economic cooperation and other programs. And the Minister
will be meeting with members of my staff and others in the
Administration to see how this can be brought about as
quickly as possible. We want to be as responsive as we
can.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, how do you reconcile, sir,
your position on Iraq with the position of your closest
allies, like Egypt, who think that the United Nations
resolutions do not allow for the use of force to force the
implementation of the resolution, and the German
Chancellor's position, which was very clear? How do you
reconcile your position in Iraq with your closest
allies?

And my question to you, Foreign Minister, is in
the absence of any assurance from the American
administration on Iraq that they will not use force, what
makes you feel so confident that they will not attack
Iraq?

SECRETARY POWELL: There is no difficulty in
reconciling our two positions; they are the same. Both the
United States and Egypt support the United Nations
resolutions that require Iraq to give up weapons of mass
destruction and to allow inspectors in. Both of us have a
common understanding of the nature of that regime and what a
danger that regime presents to the region and to the world.
And we all want to keep Iraq contained.

But at the moment,
there is nothing for us to disagree about, in my humble
judgment. We will stay in close touch in consultations with
our Egyptian friends and our other friends in the region as
we go forward.

As the President said the other day, we
keep a close eye on Iraq. I was pleased that we were able
to get the sanctions rolled over again for another six
months. But this time, in a way that will improve the goods
review list of what can be sold to Iraq in a way that the
Iraqi people will benefit but the regime will not
benefit.

And so we understand the cautions that some of
our friends have given us with respect to possible future
actions, and we will stay in close touch and consultation
with our friends.

QUESTION: Mr. Minister --

SECRETARY
POWELL: Give the Minister his chance.

FOREIGN MINISTER
MAHER: May I answer the question?

I think we have made
our position very clear. Among friends, we had frank
discussions about this matter. As the Secretary said,
friends and allies of the United States are advising
caution, and I think he has heard us, we have been heard.
And this has been under discussion and we will continue to
discuss this matter.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, there is a
report this morning that the Northern Alliance has agreed to
accept a multinational force. Can you confirm this and do
you have a comment on it?

SECRETARY POWELL: I have not
yet heard that particular report. But there are a lot of
reports that will be coming out of Bonn over the next
several days, and I think it's best that we not respond to
every single report that comes out, and wait for the parties
that are in Bonn working this all out to finish their work
and then come forward with a single comprehensive statement
as to the nature of the provisional government that they
hopefully will have formed, and how that provisional
government will work with the United Nations and with the
other members of the coalition and what support that
government may want in the way of peacekeepers, in the way
of financial aid, and the other things that a brand new
provisional government will require in order for it to be
able to do its work.

I am sure they will also wish to talk
to the international community about humanitarian aid and
reconstruction efforts as well. So I think it's best that
we wait until they finish their work, and for me not to
comment on every report that might come out from moment to
moment.

QUESTION: The detainees, the Egyptian detainees
and the Arab detainees in the American -- with the American
authorities, I understand that the Egyptian Government has
been asking for the names of those detained and maybe also
Saudi Arabia. And the US Government has been very supportive
of good relations between the two peoples, the American and
the Arab people. So have you discussed that? Did you give
the names of Egyptian detainees?

SECRETARY POWELL: We did
discuss it and the Minister expressed his concerns to me.
And I know there is concern and anxiety over this issue, and
I assured the Minister that I would look into it. There are
some legal constraints and problems and there are some
obligations under various international accords that we
have, and we will look into all of that.

And I hope that
in the very near future, as these investigations continue
and as questions are answered and clarified, we will be able
to get this list of detainees down. But we want to be as
forthcoming as we can. But we do have some legal
constraints we have to work our way through.

QUESTION: As
you know, Mr. Secretary, the Russians have sent in so-
called humanitarian workers into Kabul. They have also
reopened their embassy there and made their intentions very
clear about who they support in a future Afghan
government.

How concerned are you that the Russians are
trying to tilt the balance? You spoke earlier this week with
the Russian Foreign Minister.

SECRETARY POWELL: I am not
concerned. The Russian Foreign Minister and I spoke and the
Defense Minister and Secretary Rumsfeld spoke. We have been
in close touch as to what they are doing. They sent in
humanitarian workers, they sent in construction people to
prepare a building to be opened as their new diplomatic
presence in Kabul. They have also set up a humanitarian aid
center in Kabul. All these, I think, are positive
developments.

We are in close touch with the Russians and
I think they have the same view that we do, that you need a
government in Kabul that represents all of the Afghan people
and not just one single element. The troops that they have
sent in are, for the most part, medical troops, humanitarian
troops -- and the word "troops" isn't even all that
accurate. Many of them are the equivalent of our FEMA, our
Federal Emergency Management Agency, who are desiring to
provide this kind of humanitarian support, and construction
people. So I have no concerns at the moment over Russian
activities in the area.

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